246 Poachers and Poaching. 



means she gave away almost as much food and 

 home-brewed ale as was sold by any inn of the 

 country-side. For one in so limited a sphere in 

 life hers was almost an ideal one ; and yet her 

 end was terribly tragic. She left home one 

 wintry afternoon- to visit a sick relation in 

 Eskdale. At this time " pedlars" of whom the 

 Wanderer of " The Excursion " is a type were 

 common in remote country districts ; and one of 

 these oifered to convey her in his gig to her 

 destination over the Birk-Moor road. At the 

 end of this he was to take her up at a stated 

 time. It happened that she was too late for the 

 traveller, but walked onw r ard, supposing that he 

 was behind and would overtake her. On the 

 sixth day after this, the clergyman's daughter 

 from Eskdale casually called at the poor 

 woman's cottage. It then became known that 

 she had not been seen at Eskdale, and a band of 

 dalesfolk at once set out to search the Fells. 

 The body of the poor creature was found only 

 forty yards from the road, her hands and knees 

 terribly lacerated and her dress torn. These 

 showed that after losing the power of walking 

 she had struggled on, no one knows how far, 

 upon her hands and knees. She had taken out 

 her spectacles, as was thought, to assist her in 

 seeing her way through the blinding mists. These 

 had prevailed for a week, and to them must be 

 attributed the fact that her body lay so long 



